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The Generator Question


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So to get this question answered with clarity I just want to ask it out right.

 

What generator can I rent to do the job of powering the following:

 

1 A&H MixWiz

2 QSC HPR153s

2 QSC HPR181s

1 iPod

 

Also what else will I need? Something to actually ground the thing? A surge protector? Thick gauge extension cords? A dummy load?

 

I welcome your insight, sarcasm, grief, and mostly you're helpful answers!

 

Gracias. :thu:

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SUB!

Check with your family, friends or co-workers.

If I checked with mine, I would find five 6KW+ generators.

Chances are you know someone who has one, and wouldn't mind you using it.

You know I have your exact system, and I can run mine with a 6-7KW unit.

However. Keep an eye out for the gas consumption.

Everytime you take a break...power down, and shut the genny down.

Fill up, wait, and then restart.

Then power up, and play on.

 

As far as companies....

I am a big fan of Sunbelt in Roseville.

They always treat me right, and once when I was having a problem with a piece of equipment on a sunday....they sent a mechanic

out to help me out within an hour.

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Take a read of this.

 

The Honda Inverter gen sets really are very good, maybe the best in the field. Do not run economy mode.

As for grounding, this is a tricky subject and something I really do not understand and what I really need to be doing when using a generator. I have had a smaller gen set for years along with a larger 3KVA unit. The larger came with a rod maybe 2 foot long. I have been told using that rod will not do much at all and it would need to be much much longer, looking at 6 foot plus and inserted into the ground then connected via cable to the generator's frame. Seems all too hard to me for a small gen set. I wonder how long the ground rod is to the house...

If the gen set is mounted on a vehicle railer then it can be grounded to the vehicles chassis if I am correct.

 

Hope this brings up some more theoriesfacts to the OP.

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The ground rod (called a driven ground) is used so that any fault current is held as close to ground potential as possible while the fault is cleared by the breaker. This way if you happen to be touching a piece of stage that is also connected to the ground, there will be less voltage between the genny ground and stage ground via the earth equalizing path.

 

A steel water pipe or building steel that's binded to foundation steel are other options.

 

A vehicle is not adequately grounded for this purpose, but for vehicle purposes it's fine since you are inside and surrounded by the vehicle and unlikely to grab other objects while inside the car.

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I don't get it.
:confused:
6kw generators??? What is the power
consumption
of your system???


Have you checked out renting a battery-powered PSW (pure sine-wave) inverter set? Check with a local electrical-supply outlet, or marina, or RV dealers.(trailers)


Zero noise!

 

Can you link me to something about this?

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Can you link me to something about this?

 

 

Not very common and there have been numerous problems with reliability, partly because of the hodge-podge nature of how some of these systems are set up. They generally are not very portable, and when made so tend to be less reliable.

 

They don't have to be, but most folks haven't put the time, effort and thought into the long term reliability. They are also generally much more expensive.

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Not very common and there have been numerous problems with reliability, partly because of the hodge-podge nature of how some of these systems are set up. They generally are not very portable, and when made so tend to be less reliable.


They don't have to be, but most folks haven't put the time, effort and thought into the long term reliability. They are also generally much more expensive.

 

 

Well that settles that.

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Well that settles that.

 

 

I'd at least look into it. These things come in all sorts of sizes/prices.

 

Two weeks ago, I did a small acoustic-guitar gig at a country lot (no electricity). I ran a single 12v deep-cycle battery, and an inexpensive 1500w Xantrex MSW (modified sine-wave) inverter, powering a SoundCraft EFX-8 mixer,a single Yorkville NX55p(550w), and a couple of light-fixture (LED rain). I plugged a common audio/video APC surge suppressor ($20./Costco) into the inverter, and plugged all the gear into that unit.(we needed 4 outlets) We ran for roughly 8 hours, with not issues whatsoever. Dead quiet, and very little space required. The battery still had plenty of juice at the end of the gig. It's the third year that I've done this, and never any issues.

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Bobby, his rig is considerabley more substantial than what you might use for an acoustic guitar rig.

 

I have run my PA off of a large PV-battery-inverter rig for festivals, considerable effort and money was necessary for this to work well. The inverter cost about $10k at the time and forklift batteries were the energy storage method. By the end of the festival, we were at about 30% left in the PAIR of forklift batteries. That's a lot of VA's.

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Bobby, his rig is considerabley more substantial than what you might use for an acoustic guitar rig.


I have run my PA off of a large PV-battery-inverter rig for festivals, considerable effort and money was necessary for this to work well. The inverter cost about $10k at the time and forklift batteries were the energy storage method. By the end of the festival, we were at about 30% left in the PAIR of forklift batteries. That's a lot of VA's.

 

 

Hey Aged... a little off topic here... but are you going to be working with the Smashing Pumpkins at the Crest? If so, can you sneak me in the back door?

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My rig cost $89. for the deep-cycle 12v/115ah battery (Costco), and the inverter retailed for roughly $150. but I got it on sale for under $100.

 

It should be quite easy to find out what the QSC speakers' power consumption is. Check their specs. The mixer takes next to nothing. Same with LED light fixtures.

 

Were not talking about powering a system for thousands at a festival here. We're talking about having fun in a park, playing MP3's, right?. No backline to power, no paying audience.

 

Check your speakers to see where they're fused at.

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According to QSC's user manual, the HPR 181i subwoofer, consumes 4.2a at "maximum sustained " power.

 

"normal operation" consumes 2.5a.

 

Your HPR 153i tops consume 1.8a at "normal operation", and 2.9a at "maximum sustained" operation.

 

Total speaker consumption (2 subs/2 tops) at "normal operation" = 8.6a

At "maximum sustained level", (2 subs/2 tops) = 14.2a

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According to QSC's user manual, the HPR 181i subwoofer, consumes 4.2a at "maximum sustained " power.


"normal operation" consumes 2.5a.


Your HPR 153i tops consume 1.8a at "normal operation", and 2.9a at "maximum sustained" operation.


Total speaker consumption (2 subs/2 tops) at "normal operation" = 8.6a

At "maximum sustained level", (2 subs/2 tops) = 14.2a

 

 

I wish I knew what all this meant. If I ruled the world you could plug any damn thing into any damn outlet and it would work and also make rainbows.

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Normal operation is 1/8-power average. With pro audio driven hard, this is unrealsitic and I tend to use 1/4-power to 1/3-power. I would expect that the maximum sustained operation reflects this operating condition. So, if you are driving your speakers to where the limters are flashing pretty regularly I would recommend the 14.2 amp load which is dynamic (there will be short durations above this and below this) so at 1600 watts (or VA) a 2k genny will be insufficient IME. It also means that any inverter will see short duration loads of perhaps 2500 watts. With a 12 volt battery supply this will be a short duration load of 200 amps from the battery which indicates pretty heavy cable and possibly multiple batteries to limit sag which can damage an inverter.

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I would suspect that any Marine-supply or RV-supply, or electrical supply outfit, can give you an estimate of how much it would cost to rent a unit like this, for a day or two. They should supply you with the proper cables and batteries to meet your need. There are millions of these things in service out there.

 

If you were to buy outright, the 2400 PSW (pure-sine-wave) inverter, would probably cost around $900.- $1k. A modified sine-wave inverter (MSW inverter) of the same capacity, would be roughly $200.-$300. The number of batteries required, would depend on how long you want to run your system at max sustained power.

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